Prison(er) Advocacy and Activism Series: How to do prisoner advocacy. Reaching inside and resisting the Prison Industrial Complex. (PIC)

How to do prisoner advocacy.  Reaching inside and resisting the Prison Industrial Complex. (PIC)

Two very different forms of prisoner advocacy which I've found inspiring, both coming from the USA, but could just as easily be replicated in a Canadian context!

The first 3 links provide information on the successful closing down of one of the most brutal forms of imprisonment.  That is a whole prison, for the purpose of holding people in long term solitary confinement with no phone calls in some areas and extremely limited visitation.  Some prisoners went in when the place - TAMMS Correctional opened a decade ago and were not heard from again.  These places are referred to as supermax prisons, and created for the purpose of controlling, torturing, and humiliating the so called worst of the worst.  The problem with these horror stories (besides the obvious human rights violations already mentioned) was that there were no parametres for who could or should be sent there.  Rather than imprisoning the most violent or so called dangerous prisoners, those who had beefs with guards or who pissed of the prison administration in some way, were now in for a treat.  As if the state didn't have enough valves to release oceans of pain as it was....Now administrators have the supermax.  

However thanks to a few concerned citizens, those administrators now have one less supermax!

http://truth-out.org/news/item/10898-fight-over-closing-of-illinois-supermax-ends-14-years-of-prisoners-silence-in-solitary-confinement#.UCwvBTHPK8I.email

http://www.resistinc.org/newsletters/articles/struggling-against-torture-illinois-prison

http://www.yearten.org/

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 "Between the Bars" is a US based prisoner advocacy initiative.  Its a blog which allows prisoners to write in to the producer on the outside and have posts put up.  I've never seen anything quite like it and think its a terrific idea for someone to take up this side of the border.  This particular blog posts actual images of the hand written letters, an archiac form of written communication of which prisoners have no choice, denied computer access as they are.
The posts on Between the Bars give a really detailed and at times really disturbing  view of life inside.  Check out the post copied below the next paragraph.

About Between the Bars
"Between the Bars is a weblog platform for people in prison, through which the 1% of America which is behind bars can tell their stories. Since people in prison are routinely denied access to the Internet, we enable them to blog by scanning letters. We aim to provide a positive outlet for creativity, a tool to assist in the maintenance of social safety nets, an opportunity to forge connections between people inside and outside of prison, and a means to promote non-criminal identities and personal expression. We hope to improve prisoner's lives, and help to reduce recidivism"
http://betweenthebars.org/ 








 

Prison(er) Advocacy and Activism Resources Series - Trans

This post to appear regularly will deal with services, organizations, and grassroots advocacy going on in Canada.  (may occasionally include info about radical international advocacy)

Trans Prisoners - New Volunteer Community Service Initiative

 
Picture Retrieved from: http://article.wn.com

The Prisoner Correspondence Project is an initiative out of Concordia University in Montreal.  One of the main functions of this particular project is to support LGBTQ folks in prison  through pen-pal correspondence. The Prisoner Correspondence Project links imprisoned LGTBQ people with "free" LGBTQ folks outside.

This resource is particularly important because there are very few services for TransGender persons inside, and because they are often one of the most severely marginalised groups - a fact exacerbated by the particular forms of abuse they are subjected to inside which put them at increased risk of violence by both staff and other prisoners. 

Also on offer to organisations outside the prison system and which serve Trans Gender and all LGBTQ people, are a number of workshops on what safe sex looks like in places which limit access to condoms, and another workshop deals with the particular forms of criminalisation that Trans persons face and the connections socially to discrimination.

The web page also provides a pretty extensive list of really unique written resources for interested parties to learn more about these issues!

Go to http://www.prisonercorrespondenceproject.com/ to learn more.

To learn more about day to day life for incarcerated Trans prisoners you may want to check out the movie "Cruel and Unusual".  Here is the trailer:

 

Heres another documentary (10 min total) from the US on Trans Women speaking of their experiences

Prison Needle Exchange Advocacy Project

Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (CHALN) Video 

As per their usual standard of high quality, thoughtful, prisoner rights advocacy in Canada and internationally, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (CHALN) have been working on an informational advocacy video which demonstrates the need for needle exchange in our jails and prisons.  The video project is part of CHALN's mandate to reduce harm for prisoners living with HIV/AIDS and for those at risk of contracting the infection.

Participating in the Project

 
I was lucky enough to be invited to participate in this project and did a filmed interview here in my home last Wednesday.  The fact that everyone was flexible and able to come to my apartment made things much more comfortable for me.  It also provided a backdrop of "normalcy" to the filming.  In other words, yes drug users also have families, homes, furniture, and photos of our loved ones!

Video Advocacy Team

 

CHALN has hired an exceptionally professional team with experience in social justice issues.  In fact they recently put together a video project for PASAN - the Prisoner AIDS Support Action Network, around the work PASAN does in advocating for prisoners who are HIV and/or HCV (hep C) positive.

Unsafe Drug Injection in Prison

 
The criteria for the video was that participants had injected drugs in prison.  What we talked about was my experiences of injecting in prison and how my family and I have been affected by the lack of sterile injection equipment.  Yes I have injected in jail, yes I used equipment that had been used by others (many others) and yes I was lucky, I did not contract HIV or HCV from those experiences.  Though I am HCV positive and I did contract HCV the very same way many women contract it... from sharing equipment with a trusted partner.  I naively believed that he would disclose to me (out of respect and care) if he were HIV or HCV positive. Silly me!  He was Hep C positive, he knew it, and he didn't tell me about it.  

What an asshole right?

Yes and No.  If there were not such a severe stigma associated with HCV and hence with disclosing, maybe he would'nt have been so scared to tell me.  Is fear of stigma and judgment a good enough excuse?  Not in my books, but it happens - alot.  
He, himself contracted HCV from injecting and sharing needles in prison.  If sterile equipment had been available to him and to others in his shoes maybe there wouldn't have been anything for him to disclose to me in the first place!

Rates of HIV and HCV Among Canadian Prisoners

Approximately 70% of those imprisoned in Canada have problematic drug use issues.  Injection drug users in general have higher incidents of HIV, HCV infection than the rest of the Canadian population.  This coupled with the lack of sterile injection equipment in prison ensures staggering rates of HIV, HCV infection rates among Canadian prisoners.  The HIV prevalence rate among prisoners is 10-19 times higher than the general population.  The HCV prevalence rate is between 19% and 40% higher than the general Canadian population.  
Studies conducted in 2005 at the provincial level throughout Canada found that between 33% and 67% of incarcerated injection drug users had shared equipment with other prisoners.  One Vancouver study found that as many as 21% of injection drug users had contracted HIV while in prison.

Human Rights Abuse

Is this a human rights issue?  You bet!  Does the government of Canada see it as such?  Not so much.  Particularly not the current conservative devils!  This fact should not prevent us from continuing to push and fight for drug abuse/drug use to be treated as what it is, a health issue, a coping mechanism, a reflection of mental health troubles, and not the individual moral corruption those without expertise or experience like to pretend it to be.  

Personal Experience with HCV Treatment

I was diagnosed with HCV about 10-12 years ago.  I have done little else by way of monitoring and/or treating it since then  I have however recently initiated HCV genotype testing and will be writing about my experiences with this process and the subsequent process of treatment if it is deemed necessary.  I will be participating in a program run by a community health centre in Toronto.  I chose this particular program because it offers a somewhat holistic approach to treatment.  What I mean by somewhat holistic is that the treatment is based pretty heavily on the medical model, but also offers individual and group counselling/support.  My first appointment is later this month.  I have already cancelled once and played phone tag with the program nurse for about a month after that.  Not sure if this was nerves or simply that other thing which causes me to cancel appointments and avoid people...depression.  In either case, I'm committed to attending the next appointment.

Where Canadian Persons Have Historically Been Provided Government Support if Detained Abroad - the Harper Conservatives are Leaving People to Languish and Rot

Yet more Canadians imprisoned abroad in countries with abysmal human rights records.  Cynthia Vanier has been incarcerated in Mexico without charge for the past 3+ months.  She has been beaten and tortured.  According to her family she has lost more than 45 pounds.  The Canadian government has taken the stance that they will ignore Canadians detained abroad.  That Canadians are subject to the laws of the countries which they visit and that the Federal governments has no business stepping in.  To this point they have not intervened, have not pressed for her release, and have only offered counsular assistance.  Ms. Vanier has been transferred to a federal prison awaiting a decision on charges by the Mexican government.

Canadian Woman accused of trying to smuggle Khadafy son into Mexico; she charges abuse, torture during 3 month detention

By Philip Caulfield / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

A Canadian woman jailed in Mexico last year on suspicion she was leading a plot to smuggle the son of slain Libyan dictator Moammar Khadafy into that country will languish in prison for at least ten more days, as Mexican authorities decide whether to formally press charges.
Cynthia Vanier, 52, and three others were detained in Mexico City on Nov. 10 and accused of masterminding a plan to fly Saadi Khadafy and his family into the country on false passports.
Vanier's family has said the allegations are ridiculous.
The Ontario consultant was in Mexico working on water-purification projects when she was arrested, the family says.
They suspect she was targeted because she had traveled to Libya in July on a fact-finding mission for a Montreal-based engineering firm, Canada's CBC News reported.
The firm, SNC-Lavalin, had more than 1,000 employees in Libya and ties to the Khadafy family, CBC News said.
Her detention order was set to expire on Tuesday, but a Mexican judge extended the order and moved her to a federal prison, saying authorities need more time to decide whether to charge her.
In a letter to Canadian authorities obtained by CBC News, Vanier claims she's been tortured and abused during the three-month nightmare, at one point urinating blood after a Mexican cop punched her in the kidneys.
"They ignored me and just put me into the cell... I thought I was going to die in there," she wrote.
Vanier's parents, John and Betty MacDonald, were finally allowed to visit their daughter last Thursday, after months of grappling with the Mexican prison bureaucracy.
The couple told CBC their daughter looked gray-haired and gaunt — having lost some 45 pounds — and was suffering from kidney and blood pressure problems.
"It was pretty overwhelming," Betty MacDonald said of hugging her daughter for the first time. "I wanted to hang on to her forever, wrap her up in a blanket and bring her home."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/canadian-woman-stuck-mexican-prison-bizarre-khadafy-family-smuggling-plot-article-1.1015204#ixzz1lMjjTHDQ

A Canadian man has been arrested in Bahrain and in this case Canada has taken the position to stand back and observe, but little else.

Canadian man arrested in Bahrain court house

Verdict on petition to overturn prison sentence expected Feb. 16

 A Canadian man who lost his appeal of a five-year prison sentence and had been hiding out in Bahrain was arrested in court on Wednesday, CBC News has learned.

Canadian Naser al-Raas was arrested in a Bahrain court on Wednesday when he showed up hoping a five-year prison sentence would be set aside. (Courtesy of family)

Naser al-Raas, 29, was convicted in October for charges of illegal assembly, rioting and incitement in the Arab Spring protests. He was sentenced to five years in prison, where he alleges he has been tortured. He had been in hiding since the conviction.

Katie Edwards of the group Free Naser in Canada said in an email Wednesday the Bahrain court is expected to make a decision on whether to overturn al-Raas's sentence on Feb. 16.

His fiancée Zainab Ahmed told CBC News al-Raas was arrested Wednesday afternoon when he showed up in court in a final bid to get out of the five-year sentence.

She said al-Raas only showed up because his lawyer thought his client would be found innocent. Ahmed said she didn't get the chance to see him before he was taken into custody.

"I'm so upset, so mad, so sad," Ahmed said between sobs in a Skype conversation with the CBC's Ashley Burke. "I'm afraid they will torture him again.

"I'm begging the Canadian government to do anything."

Update and Petition on Ron Smith Getting Death Penalty

Once again I am stunned by the penchant of the political right for cruelty and a total lack of empathy.  I simply cannot understand how being a human being oneself, it can be so impossible to feel empathy for another human being, even one who has made the enormous mistakes Ron has.  Ronald has admitted to killing 2 men 30+ years ago.  And if true, it is the most serious of damage one person can do to another and to their respective families.  I'm not sure what the answer is when these circumstances occur, what is an appropriate manner for those responsible to accept responsibility and to make whatever amends possible.  But I feel quite certain about this, 30 years in the hole and then being put to death by the state which writes laws against killing - is wrong.  It just is.  

Sign the Petition to support Ronald and stop his execution.

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-ronald-allen-smith/sign.html#se

Are there any people in Canada working on this issue from a community level?  Please leave a comment or send me an email - j-sheryl@hotmail.com

Baird slammed for 'cynical' clemency plea

Double-murderer Ronald Smith asks to be spared death penalty

 By RANDY BOSWELL, Postmedia News January 21, 2012

 Opposition critics and one of Canada's leading opponents of the death penalty are denouncing Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird for sending a brief letter to the Montana parole board in which he appears to only half-heartedly request clemency for convicted killer Ronald Smith, the only Canadian on death row in the United States.
Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International-Canada, described the letter as "deeply disappointing."
The federal NDP's justice critic, Jack Harris, called it a "deplorable" indication of the Conservative government's stance on capital punishment, and Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc said the "weak" and "cynical" letter could effectively sink Smith's bid to avoid death by lethal injection.
In the letter, Baird prefaces his request by noting that the government was ordered to lend its support to Smith by the Federal Court of Canada. He then states that the government "does not sympathize with violent crime" and that Canada's formal request for clemency "should not be construed as reflecting a judgment on Smith's conduct."
The letter from Baird was included this week in Smith's formal application to have his death sentence for killing two Montana men in 1982 commuted to life imprisonment.
The request is expected to prompt an investigation by parole board officials, a formal hearing within the next four months and eventually a non-binding recommendation from the board to Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer on whether Smith deserves to avoid execution.
The 19-page application for clemency - accompanied by two other lengthy and impassioned letters of support for the 54-year-old Smith from a Catholic priest and prison educator - detailed Smith's record as a model inmate at the Montana State Prison, the failure of his first lawyer to accept a 1983 plea bargain that would have spared Smith's life, the abusive childhood Smith suffered growing up in Alberta and his "heartfelt remorse" over the crimes he committed nearly 30 years ago.
"Clearly, a more robust letter conveying detailed and forceful support would be constructive, including laying out the reasons why (in addition to a court order) the government believes Mr. Smith deserves clemency," Neve said.
"There are many such reasons."
Neve acknowledged that having Canada officially "on the record" as backing the clemency bid is "obviously welcome" - even if the Conservative government's support is, at best, lukewarm.
"It's very, very cynical to begin a letter to the Montana parole board by saying 'Look, I don't really want to do this, but I've been forced to,'" said LeBlanc. "If we think it's wrong to impose the death penalty on Canadians in Canada, we should have a consistent application of that principle when foreign jurisdictions are subjecting Canadians to that potential sentence."

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Baird+slammed+cynical+clemency+plea/6030715/story.html#ixzz1khfe2m9C

Sandra Chu and Kim Pate on Bill C10 - Omnibus Crime Bill Radio

Two of the foremost (non-prisoner) advocates for prisoners in Canada on the Safe Streets and Communities Act - Bill C10

Sandra Chu - HIV/AIDS Legal Network on Bill C10

Kim Pate - E.D. Elizabeth Fry Society on Bill C10

Parent of Murdered Child Speaks Out Against Bill C10

I urge people to read the following thoughts about tough on crime rhetoric and its history of ineffectually addressing community harm.  Its an eloquently spoken critique of the omnibus crime bill by the parent of a murdered child.
Retrieved from: http://cpcml.ca/Tmld2011/D41121.HTM#7

Victim Advocacy Group Emphasizes Need for Social Programs Not "Law and Order" Approach to Crime

Posted below are excerpts from the presentation to the Justice and Human Rights Committee hearings considering Bill C-10 by Wilma Derksen, Founder, Victims' Voice Program and Past Coordinator, Mennonite Central Committee Canada.

***

[...] I am here on behalf of the Mennonite Central Committee [... h]owever, I will be speaking to you as a parent of a murdered child. I am also here because the issues you are addressing are extremely important to me and my family.
My daughter Candace was 13 years old when she was abducted and found murdered six weeks later. We lived for two decades without knowing the details of what happened. I not only know the horror of murder, but I am also intimately acquainted with the aftermath of violence. From the beginning, I began working with other victims, and I learned that the emotional aftermath can be as threatening as the crime itself. It does and it can destroy us.
The attention focused on this bill reminds me very much of the time when Candace first disappeared. All I could think of was the murder and the need for justice and safety. It was very difficult for me to think or talk about anything else, but I had to learn. I had two other children who were alive and I had a husband who needed a loving wife. If I had waited for justice and safety, I would have had to wait for a very long time -- life would have passed me by.
I am still involved with other victims of crime. Two weeks ago, I was with a group that spent most of the evening analyzing the problems of our justice system. We were wallowing in our pain, not always being politically correct, as one member put it, but allowing each other to speak freely.
At the end of the evening, I asked them what they would do to create justice in the country. To be honest, I expected that they would suggest changes to our criminal justice system similar to the bill that we have before us today. I thought they would prioritize safety at all costs, propose stiffer sentences, and advocate for victims' rights.
They didn't. As we went around the circle, they all agreed that the answer to crime is to put more emphasis on the school system and other social programs. While not denying that we have to maintain prisons, they insisted that we as a society need to put our energy and creative thinking into giving our young people a better education and a better life.
I could share equally compelling stories from my work with offenders. My experience in the way my family and I chose to respond opened up opportunities to visit many of the prisons across Canada, from William Head Institution in B.C. to Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick.
I am thrilled to report that this last February we saw our own case finally brought to justice. For the first time, we actually heard the story of what had happened to our daughter, but the sentencing of the man who murdered our daughter did not satisfy our deep longing for justice. In some ways, we had already found justice in the joy of the good things that had come out of Candace's death and in the support of our community of friends.
The trial brought out the truth, and it was the truth that healed us and set us free, not the sentencing. I still find no satisfaction in thinking that the man will be sitting in prison for the next 25 years. There is nothing life-giving about that. It's just sad. And it's going to cost us probably $2.5 million.
In this short time I can't begin to give you a comprehensive critique of the bill, but I do want to register my concerns with the potential for unintended consequences. For example, even though it sounds wonderful to enshrine the victim's voice at Parole Board hearings, I also worry about this. Are we going to be putting pressure on victims? Could we be locking some victims and offenders together in a dysfunctional dialogue for the rest of their lives?
Perhaps we need to include the victims at the beginning of the process, mapping out their healing journey at the same time as we are sentencing the guilty. Perhaps this should be at the discretion of the judge. We can think about these things creatively.
Furthermore, I wonder if we can afford to focus so many of our scarce resources on mopping up the past so that there are only crumbs left for the living, who are struggling to find hope for the future. As the Minister of Justice rightly noted earlier this week, the Government of Canada is funding many creative community-based justice initiatives that address the root causes of crime, support victims of crime, and help ex-offenders reintegrate into the community. I would ask that you assign a greater proportion of your attention to this good work. [...]

Insite, The Early Years Journey

Serving Vancouver and the Downtown East Side Since 2003.....

Controversial since first opening its doors, Insite has provided injection drug users with a safe place to use.  Insite is operated under an umbrella of services provided by Vancouver Coastal Health with respect to vulnerable populations.  It began as a pilot project allowed by the Liberal government, under an exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.  It was to run for 3 years and expired in 2006.  The program was so successful in reducing deaths and injury, as well as providing much relied upon counselling, detox and point of entry to addiction treatment programs that an extension was requested. This marked the beginning of a long and arduous battle, fought with old and familiar weapons.  

The moralizing, judging, and demonizing of those without power by those in power.
    See "Drugs Policy" page for full article
 

Russia and Harm Reduction

In Russia, numbers of those with problematic drug use issues have been increasing. This is especially true where opiate narcotics are concerned.  The numbers of those dependent on heroin are increasing at alarming rates.  Reasons for this trend reflect the usual culprits.  Poverty, increased desperation, trauma.  Once hooked, users have little chance of escape.  Russia bans substitution therapies like methadone.   Government officials and health experts alike have publically stated that substitution therapies are "no way to treat addiction."  Leaders in psychiatry and addiction issued this statement: “The effective way to solve the problem of drug addiction treatment is an intensive search for and introduction of new methods and means that focus on complete cessation of drugs use by patients with addiction, their socialization into a new life style free from drugs, but not on exchanging from one drug to another.” With the high levels of poverty in Russia many users cannot afford to purchase heroin.  Desperate to shake off the terrible flu like symptoms, users have turned to a homemade substance referred to as "Krocodile". The technical term, desomorphine is a derivative of morphine.   It is cheap and made fairly simply from codeine, which does not require a prescription.  It won its street name, Krocodile because of its effects on the user.   Injected without further purification, Krocodile literally rots the flesh.  Skin becomes scaly and green. These symptoms are actually signs of phlebitis and gangrene. Some studies have estimated the life span of Krocodile users to be 2-3 years.

Russia is facing a time of great civil unrest. People are tired of the awful conditions under which they have been forced to struggle for many years, tired of the lack of commitment from their leaders regarding change, and sickened by wide spread corruption. While “leaders” feel they are entitled to take from the people, even while the people do without basic necessities.

It has finally become widely accepted in many parts of the world that those who use drugs problematically do so in order to temper emotional agony.  Finally the misinformed belief that  drug use itself is the problem has been put to rest. There are underlying issues which make it undesirable to stop. If getting high is your only means of escaping from terrible life circumstances, and depression, then people really have no right to demand that you simply quit without providing opportunity and hope.

Unfortunately many countries like Russia criminalise drug use itself, and the treatments (save abstinence) which are known to save lives. This creates conditions where drug users are unnecessarily exposed to HIV, and HCV; a mentality of judgment; stigma which prevents people from seeking medical treatment; and high rates of preventable deaths.

Russia is faced with the fastest growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the world. And unlike many other countries sex is not the primary method of transmission. Injection drug use accounts for as many as 80% of new infections. See the following stats on Russia from 1996-2006 as documented by the UN.

• Of the nearly 400,000 people living with HIV approximately 14,000 are receiving treatment.

• 55% of those diagnosed with HIV are persons between 15-24 years of age.

Despite the degree of hopelessness, there are those who are fighting back and speaking out.

Alexei, a former prisoner advocates for drug users one person at a time. His sister is HIV positive and terrified to seek medical attention for fear of judgment and mis-treatment.

Read thier story here:
Tear Fund - Hope to the Marginalised

Masha Ovchinnikova is an activist and project coordinator at FrontAIDS, a Russian AIDS activist group in Moscow. The group advocates for expansion of needle distribution and exchange programs, as well as access to discrimination free AIDS treatment and for methadone maintenance programs to be widely instituted.

See their web page at: 
FrontAIDS

Concerns Impacting Those Vulnerable to Criminalisation: Ontario's Watchdog

Ontario’s current Ombudsman, Andre Marin has proven himself to be a brave and outspoken critic regarding concerns within provincial government policy and law.  Each year the Ombudsman prepares an end of year report documenting the most serious issues investigated by the Ombudsman's office that year.  Many of the problems they identified are deeply systemic issues that impact the most vulnerable amongst us more often, and more harshly than other people.  
Those who live in poverty, who suffer the effects of trauma, people of colour, those who use drugs, people living with disability or health issues like HIV/AIDS, and the LGTBQ communities are just a few of those most vulnerable to systemic violence.
Mr. Marin identified 10 of the top problems and/or changes needed within provincial government services.  Some of these issues, he has a mandate to oversee, others he does not, and can do little more than to continue advocating for oversight.  
This article focuses on those areas Andre identified which are most likely to impact on the above populations.  

You can read the entire document at:
http://www.ombudsman.on.ca/Newsroom/Press-Release/2011/Ontario-Ombudsman%E2%80%99s-Top-10-Highlights-of-2011.aspx?lang=en-CA .

1.   Special Investigations Unit (SIU) - Investigation

Number one on Andre’s list is an Ombudsman’s office investigation into operations at Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU).  They are a civilian organization, mandated to investigate issues where police have been involved in causing injury or death to civilians.  Mr. Marin pointed out that the SIU does not have enough bite and the power it does have, often is not used.  Andre pointed out incidents where police refused to communicate with the SIU, ignoring letters and holding back notes.  In some cases police even refused to fill out shift reports until they had been vetted by legal council.  When hearings into deaths and injury’s were taking place, those officers involved and other police witnesses used the same council.  Mr. Marin and others pointed out the conflict of interest problem and stated that this routine opened the possibility of collusion.

2.   Mush Sector Investigation

Lack of Ombudsman oversight of the so called MUSH sector has been an ongoing complaint for 35 years in Ontario.  MUSH stands for Municipalities, Universities, School Boards, and Hospitals.  It includes things like long term care facilities, nursing homes, student unions, police, and child protection services like the Children’s Aid Society (CAS).  The Ombudsman’s office receives hundreds of calls each year surrounding issues in these sectors, yet they cannot investigate.

a.  Municipalities (MUSH)

There were 758 complaints regarding municipalities, which included things like evictions and delays in obtaining public housing, and poor service in the administration of welfare.  In 2009 the city of Toronto instituted its own Ombudsman to oversee municipalities.  However this covers only a small portion of agencies within the MUSH sector and it leaves out the rest of the population of Ontario. 

b.  Universities (MUSH)

Most of Ontario’s vulnerable populations will not be given the opportunity to attend university.  There are a host of reasons for this, but to sum it in a few words, vulnerable people face more barriers than the average person.  Its why we are referred to as vulnerable.  When marginalised persons are able to overcome multiple barriers to higher education, often it will be a college level program.  And thankfully, here Mr. Marin can intervene.  However for those who manage to persevere and push on to university, the Ombudsman's office is unable to step in when problems do arise.  There were 39 complaints in the 2010/2011 year.

c.  School Boards (MUSH)

The ombudsman received 99 complaints about school boards.  Most of those complaints revolved around issues with boards not providing adequate support to students with special or disciplinary needs.  It also included issues with transportation services and bullying.  These issues are likely to impact the children of vulnerable families most often.  Because families are subjected to issues such as poor wages, low welfare rates, poor enforcement of job related rights, inadequate access to healthcare and counselling services, because these families are often singled out for criminalisation, they face a great deal of instability.  These are forms of violence with intergenerational impacts which for children can include poor school attendance, an inability to focus, and certain behavioural effects.

d.  Children’s Aid Societies (CAS)   (MUSH)

Probably the single greatest impact on marginalised families is at the hands of these arms length government officials.  Also I believe the least talked about, even within progressive communities that care.
People who are criminalised and who have children will also be targeted to have their children apprehended.  There are many CAS workers in Ontario who despite changing policy, believe that parents who use drugs are automatically “bad” parents and may have their children stolen while they are in school.  Children’s Aid requires no warrant to apprehend a child.  They will be required to define their reasons later on in a court room.  However it is highly unusual for a judge to go against a CAS official.  They are given a great deal of latitude and until a judge has reason to believe this “impartial” worker is anything less than that, they will assume there is no reason to suspect wrong doing.  This idea that people who use drugs can’t be good parents is of course a moral and hypocritical one.  The majority of people in this province drink alcohol, about 1/3rd smoke cigarettes.  These substances are known to do more harm both individually and socially than all other substances combined.
People who use drugs are not the only ones targeted for CAS exploitation.  Single parent families are prime suspects, as are those who school their children at home.  New immigrants to Canada, and those with cultural practices that vary from the Canadian “norm” are also targets of CAS intervention.
Anyone wishing to launch an official complaint can expect lots of red tape, and a solid wall of silence, a culture of collusion, and an environment of animosity from that point forward.  you better be sure this is your last option, because from here on out it will get worse.  The people who you need to complain about will be the same ones investigating the complaint.  Complaints must first be launched at the office where you have an issue.  If supervisor’s here fail to resolve the issue, you may than take it to the Child and Family Services Review Board at the Ministry of Children and Youth.  Keep in mind that these people are mandated by the same legislation as individual CAS offices and they often work together on policy and procedure.  The Ministry is not independent from the Children’s Aid Society.
The Ombudsman’s office received 386 complaints about CAS’s this past year.
There are citizen action groups attempting to make CAS’s a purview of the Ombudsman, as well as documenting the behaviour of individuals within the organization.
Please visit some of the below sites to learn more about the child protection industry in Ontario and the terrible impacts on those with little power to fight back.
(this group has been unfairly shut down before as a result of supporters of CAS complaints)

• http://www.exiledmothers.com/speaking_out/maternal_terrorism.html  (Article on forced adoption)

Parents and Grandparents Doing Their Own Advocacy:

• http://corruptioncentral.com/
• http://focasd.webs.com/
• Stop Taking Children from Good Parents Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stopcasgroup/
• http://www.fighting4families.webs.com/
• http://www.afterfostercare.ca/
• http://www.protectingcanadianchildren.ca/
• http://www.sosquebec.com/

e.  Police  (MUSH)

An obvious service when talking about impacts on marginalised people.  The Ombudsman’s office received 356 complaints about police and an additional 15 complaints about the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD), which is the Ministry of the Attorney General’s service to investigate civilian complaints.  The Ombudsman does not have power of oversight with regards to the police.

3.   G20 Investigation

Mr. Marin’s office was able to investigate police actions during the G20 through their investigation into the use of the 1939 Public Works Protection Act (PWPA) which was brought into effect during an era of world unrest and prior to Canada’s implementation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The implementation during the G20 of the PWPA expanded police powers of search, seizure and arrest.
Some of the main findings of the Ombudsman’s investigation were, criticism of the Minister’s decision to implement war time measures during a time of peace; the Public Works Protection Act was not legal in the context to which it was applied during the G20; It was intended to be used for the protection of infrastructure and not visiting world leaders; Mr. Marin called the use of this legislation opportunistic and inappropriate; hundreds of people were unnecessarily arrested under authority of the PWPA; the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects people against arbitrary arrest or arbitrary detention; “The police had no business detaining anyone without lawful authority, and ordinarily – where no special laws operate – their lawful authority to arrest or detain is closely restricted in the interests of civil liberties.”
To read the full report, Caught in the Act, from the Ombudsman’s Investigation of events during the G20 see; http://www.ombudsman.on.ca/Investigations/SORT-Investigations/Completed/G20-summit--Caught-in-the-Act-br---December-2010.aspx

4.   Use of Force Investigation

 

100 prisoners called the office of the Ombudsman to report incidents involving excessive use of force during the 2010/2011 year.  No results have been released yet regarding this investigation.  In a press release the Ombudsman’s office stated that they would investigate how incidents involving excessive use of force are handled within the system as well as allegations by prisoners that these incidents are often ignored or covered up.  Because reports of cover up come from many institutions, the Ombudsman will investigate a suspected “code of silence” among correctional staff.

check here for updates: http://www.ombudsman.on.ca/Newsroom/Press-Release/2011/Ombudsman-to-investigate-handling-of-excessive-for.aspx

All of the investigations the Ombudsman carries out are on serious issues and allegations.  As Ontarians we should consider these issues with a critical lens.  And decide for ourselves whether increased support of investigative powers for the Ombudsman is warranted.  

I believe we could go a long way to resolving many of these issues by completely eliminating those  bodies, services, and organizations doing damage to our families and to us as individuals. We could than create civilian committees to direct ideas, and insight towards just and reasonable solutions which are inclusive of all those involved.

To sign a petition giving the provincial Ombudsman in Ontario oversight of the MUSH sector go to: http://ontariocfa.com/

To see work students at York University in Toronto are doing around this issue:  http://www.yugsa.ca/?section_id=6&content_id=561

Access to Pain Medication - Discrimination

As a known drug user I am terrified of the day I find myself in crisis resulting from pain. Hospitals automatically and notoriously treat those on Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) and other people known to them as drug users as “drug seekers”.

Staff don't care whether or not you have presented with a condition normally warranting pain medication and treatment. You will almost certainly be made to wait while arguments against your treatment are considered at length, or you may be provided with alternative measures which are at best ineffective or you could be completely turned away, and refused medication period.

In fact despite what some medical professionals may prefer to claim, there is a culture of “addiction paranoia” within practitioner circles. Even if you have zero history of illicit drug use, you may be refused pain medications or not provided with a high enough dose or for a long enough time. All because doctors fear the possibility of addiction.

Over the next weeks I am going to provide some information, tips, and advice about how best to advocate for yourself when you are in need of pain medications. And I am also going to be talking about current initiatives to change the paranoia practice in Canada and internationally.

It is a human right to be provided with adequate, effective, and speedy access to pain relief of all kinds, including access to narcotic pain medications.

International

SOROS is one of the leading international agencies dealing with denial of pain medications for all kinds of reasons including unfair pricing and policy for so called 3r world countries, and refusal for reasons related to discrimination. Check out some of their work here: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/health/about

This web site talks about the practice of refusing patients pain medication world wide. They also deal with issues of forced sterilization and forced drug treatment. There is an interactive map allowing you a glimpse into practices by continent.

http://www.stoptortureinhealthcare.org/news-and-resources/access-pain-treatment-human-right

In Canada

Activists in Canada such as the Canadian Pain Society (www.canadianpainsociety.ca) and the Canadian

Pain Coalition (www.canadianpaincoalition.ca) are calling for a National Pain Strategy.

Read about what is needed in a national strategy here:

http://www.canadianpainsummit2012.ca/media/11445/final%20nat%20pain%20strategy%20for%20can%20121511%20eng.pdf 
Core Values Of National Call Out for a Pain Strategy

•  Access to the treatment of pain without discrimination is a fundamental human right
• The treatment of pain requires an inter-professional approach to care
• The treatment of pain must be patient and family centered
• Pain is a continuum (from acute to chronic and from birth to death)

Endorse the strategy demanding the federal government implement a National Pain Strategy here:

http://www.canadianpainsummit2012.ca/en/home.aspx

To Learn More attend one of the upcoming Canadian pain conferences in 2012.

1. Rise Up Against Pain. Ottawa, On April 24, 2012 See the call for submissions too!
    http://www.canadianpainsummit2012.ca/en/home/event-information.aspx
   
   

2. Pain Hurts Everyone, Searching for Solutions – Whistler, BC - May 23-26, 2012
    http://www.canadianpainsociety.ca/en/

The Lead Now Campaign

Lead Now has demonstrated to those within the Canadian state just how to do a mainstream, national advocacy project while also including voices with more radical ideas.  And the project seems to be having some success at the government level.

Some Updates;

Senator Percy Downe posted this to his twitter account during the Lead Now senator letter campaign.



 Lead Now goes on to restate what the media have already informed us, that Senate voting on Bill C10 will not take place before February.   A move away from "the first 100 days" initially promised by conservatives.

Then as almost an after thought, Lead Now informs us that they contacted criminologists from around Canada and asked them to sign on to the open letter addressed to Senators.  Here is the list, but I see at least one name missing who should have been invited - perhaps you notice others....  Though I applaud Lead Now in all of their initiatives, a small suggestion might have been to ask members to contribute suggestions around who to contact.  I would have suggested Eugene Oscapella.

"PS - We asked some of the country's leading criminologists to add their names to our open letter asking the Senate to provide the sober second thought we need on the Crime Bill. The response was amazing. Here's the initial list of signatories:"

• Anthony Doob, Professor of Criminology, Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto
• Frank Cormier, Criminology/Sociology Coordinator, Department of Sociology, University of Manitoba
• Gordon Darroch, Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, Senior Scholar, York University
• Lorna Stefanick, Associate Professor, Governance Law and Management Program, Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, Athabasca University
• Penni Stewart, Associate Professor, Sociology, York University
• Deborah Brock, Department of Sociology, Sociolegal Studies, Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, York University
• John Edward Deukmedjian, Ayssociate Professor, Criminology, Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminology, University of Windsor
• Margaret E. Beare, Professor, Law and Sociology, York University
• Marc Nesca, Forensic Psychologist, Associate Professor, Criminal Justice Program, Athabasca University
• Frederick Desroches, Professor, Sociology, Criminology, and Legal Studies, St. Jerome's University, University of Waterloo
• Michael Weinrath, Professor & Chair, Department of Criminal Justice, University of Winnipeg
• Joanna Pozzulo, Director, Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Carleton University
• Russell C. Smandych, Professor of Sociology and Criminology, Department of Sociology, University of Manitoba